The Pacific Life Community returned to Washington state for their annual gathering, concluding with a blockade of the main gate into the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. The base is the Pacific homeport of the Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet.

A two-day program at a nearby retreat center built on the legacy of now-retired Raymond Hunthausen. As Archbishop of Seattle in 1984, he declared that “Trident is the Auschwitz of Puget Sound.” Hunthausen’s wages were garnished when he publicly refused to pay the war tax percentage in protest.

Snow and rain did not deter the demonstration at the Trident base gate on March 7. More than 40 people joined together for prayer, reading Hunthausen’s words before peacekeepers safely blocked the incoming traffic and several banners were stretched across the road.

Six others who crossed over the marked property line onto the federal side read sections of the Nuremberg Principles out loud before being arrested by military police. Alexandria Addesso, Karan Founds-Benton, Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ, Betsy Lamb, Mary Mele and Charley Smith were charged with trespass and received ban and bar letters before being released.